There's a realistic chance that the financing of the Nabucco gas pipeline project could be finalized in 2009 and construction could start in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany told state news agency MTI Friday.
The main focus of the Nabucco conference to be held Jan. 27 in Budapest will be to set up the financing framework for Nabucco, Gyurcsany added.
The 3,300 kilometer-long Nabucco would connect Turkey with Austria, bringing gas from Central Asia. Questions, however, have arisen about whether enough gas can be provided from Central Asia to fill the pipeline, which has an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters.
The Budapest conference will bring together representatives from countries that are taking part in the project as well as from states that could be possible suppliers, such as Iraq, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
The premier stressed that the European Union's commitment and initiatives were key to the project, adding that institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as the European Investment Bank should also provide financing.
The estimated cost of the pipeline stands at EUR7.9 billion at the moment, MTI said.